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Single Step Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Single Step Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$487k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$267k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$693kArts & Culture$454kEnvironment$369kFood & Nutrition$205kYouth Development$25kHuman Services$10kRecreation & Sports$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $6k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $114k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
  • $250k+1 grant · $267k
$25,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$33k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FOUNDATION$266,710
THE SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION$50,000
ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION$50,000
BOULDER LIBRARY FOUNDATION$33,810
NEWBERRY LIBRARY$25,000
GARDEN TO TABLE$25,000
CENTER FOR INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS$20,000
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS$10,000
SAVANNA INSTITUTE$5,000
DRIFTLESS AREA LAND CONSERVANCY$1,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–20, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%EAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 17 repeat orgs$49k to everyone else

17 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
5

Total granted

$1.7M
$24k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-9%
+9%

Still filing today

76%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • AL
    ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $365k · revenue +200%
  • WH
    WISCONSIN HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC
    3× · 2020–2024 · $31k · revenue +13%
  • WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $4k · revenue +47%

Funded once

  • EM
    EAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +9%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF PBS WISCONSIN INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $7k · revenue +62%
  • RV
    RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $3k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Natural Resources Foundation of

To protect wisconsin's lands, waters, and wildlife by providing funding, leading partnerships, and connecting all people with nature.

—
2
Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association Inc

To protect, conserve, and enhance wisconsin's natural resources by advocating for and supporting county conservation efforts, for current and future generations.

Environment
3
Friends of Wisconsin State Parks Inc

To preserve, promote, protect, and enhance wisconsin state parks, forests, trails, and recreation areas.

Recreation & Sports
4
Landmark Conservancy Inc

Landmark conservancy is a nationally accredited, nonprofit conservation organization serving 20 counties across northwest wisconsin. their mission is to conserve wisconsin's natural legacy for everyone...forever.

Environment
5
Wisconsin Library Services Inc

Providing services to members in a fee-for-service model to help advance library services, primarily in the state of wisconsin.

—
6
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay Foundation Inc

The uw-green bay foundation furthers the mission of uw-green bay, a public university, by developing and increasing opportunities for students primarily in the areas other than those in which the state of wisconsin ordinarily makes…

Education
7
Wisconsin Policy Forum Inc

We conduct impartial public policy research and analysis to drive informed debate and effective decision-making in the state of wisconsin.

Public Benefit
8
Wisconsin Public Broadcasting Foundation Inc

The Wisconsin Public Broadcasting Foundation WPBF supports the work of the Educational Communications Board ECB a State of Wisconsin agency committed to ensuring that public media and public safety programs and services are available…

Arts & Culture
9
Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association Incorporated

To empower and support wpra members by fostering professional growth, advocating for the parks and recreation profession, and enhancing the quality of life for communities across wisconsin through education, networking, and leadership…

—
10
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts and Letters

To cultivate civil discourse, increase understanding, and create common ground by connecting wisconsin people and ideas.

Arts & Culture
11
Uwm Research Foundation Inc

Support research and innovation at the university of wisconsin - milwaukee by providing reserach funding, entrepreneurship support, and by engaging in corporate partnering activities to that end.

Community Improvement
12
Wisconsin's Green Fire Incorporated

Advance science-informed analysis and policy solutions that address wisconsin's greatest conservation challenges.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Friends of Pbs Wisconsin Inc; the most unlike its peers is Growe Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

18 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 18 of the 24 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
7/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC: $365,000 · OtherALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INCCENTER FOR INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS: $205,000 · OtherCENTER FOR INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMSBOULDER LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $69,810 · OtherBOULDER LIBRARY FOUNDATIONNATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION: $44,500 · OtherNATURAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION+4 more: $29,500 · OtherUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $554,210 · EducationUniversity of Illinois FoundationTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $60,000 · EducationTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY+2 more: $4,000 · EducationSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $107,500 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATI…SAVANNA INSTITUTE: $106,825 · EnvironmentSAVANNA INSTITUTEFRIENDS OF KICKAPOO VALLEY RESERVE INC: $103,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF KICKAPOO …+2 more: $5,000 · EnvironmentNORTH LAKELAND DISCOVERY CENTER INC: $35,000 · Arts & CultureWISCONSIN HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC: $31,000 · Arts & CultureROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $12,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF PBS WISCONSIN INC: $7,000 · Arts & CultureWISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $4,000 · Arts & CultureGROWE FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentEAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10,000 · Human Services
Other$713,810Education$618,210Environment$322,325Arts & Culture$89,000Youth Development$25,000Human Services$10,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $554,210 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC: $365,000 over 6y, 7.4% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $107,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSAVANNA INSTITUTE: $106,825 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF KICKAPOO VALLEY RESERVE INC: $103,000 over 2y, 43% of budgetTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $60,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNORTH LAKELAND DISCOVERY CENTER INC: $35,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetWISCONSIN HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC: $31,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetGROWE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF GOVERNOR DODGE STATE PARK: $3,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTH CENTRAL LIBRARY SYSTEM FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetDRIFTLESS AREA LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Alliant Energy Founda…PatagoniaorgVanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Alliant Energy Foundation IncWI13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Patagoniaorg · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Single Step Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Single Step Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Single Step Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Single Step Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 24 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Single Step’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home